For most of us, switching to a vegetarian diet might be a matter of a New Year's resolution and a fair amount of willpower, but for an entire species, it's a much more involved process -- one that evolutionary biologists have struggled to understand for a long time.

Researchers at the University of Arizona have taken a peek behind the curtain of evolution to find out what happens when an insect species dramatically changes its way of life. The processes they discovered involve never-seen-before remodeling of genes, behaviors and diet. The results, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, or PNAS, are likely to make you ponder evolutionary questions next time you find a fruit fly floating in your glass of wine.

One of nature's fascinating questions is how zebras got their stripes.

A team of life scientists led by UCLA's Brenda Larison has found at least part of the answer: The amount and intensity of striping can be best predicted by the temperature of the environment in which zebras live.

In the January cover story of the Royal Society's online journal, Open Science, the researchers make the case that the association between striping and temperature likely points to multiple benefits -- including controlling zebras' body temperature and protecting them from diseases carried by biting flies.

Newly discovered genetic variations linked to autism spectrum disorder (ASD) disrupt the function of the dopamine transporter, suggesting that altered dopamine signaling contributes to this common developmental condition.

Two different inherited genetic variations in two different families of children with ASD "converged" to produce the same changes in nerve function and behavior, the researchers report in EBioMedicine. This is the first report of two different ASD-associated variations producing the same neural and behavioral changes in a Drosophila (fruit fly) model, said Aurelio Galli, Ph.D., professor of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics and of Psychiatry, and corresponding author with Kevin Erreger, Ph.D., and Heinrich J.G. Matthies, Ph.D.

People who use cochlear implants for profound hearing loss do respond to certain aspects of music, contrary to common beliefs based on limited scientific research. Writing in Hearing Research, a team says exposure to the beat in music, such as drums, can improve the emotional and social quality-of-life of cochlear implant users and may even help improve their understanding and use of spoken language.

Previous research has shown that cochlear implants, which bypass the outer and inner ears to directly stimulate fibers of the auditory nerve, are deficient in transmitting the pitch and tone quality of music; users report hearing noise when music is played. Consequently, they may receive little training in music or musical movement.

Research on how science works - the science of science - can benefit from studying the digital traces generated during the research process, such as peer-reviewed publications. This type of research is crucial for the future of science and that of scientists, according to Frank Schweitzer, Chair of Systems Design at ETH Zurich, in Switzerland. Indeed, quantitative measures of scientific output and success in science already impact the evaluation of researchers and the funding of proposals. He shares his views in an Editorial spearheading a thematic series of articles entitled "Scientific networks and success in science", published in EPJ Data Science.

A new study of marine organisms that make up the 'biofouling community' - tiny creatures that attach themselves to ships' hulls and rocks in the ocean around the world - shows how they adapt to changing ocean acidification. Reporting in the journal Global Change Biology, the authors examine how these communities may respond to future change.